Baby #4 is on the way! Our little peanut will be here between June 29th and July 12th. We found out about the little one October 30th. We went to the doctor last Thursday. The baby is doing great. We’re about 7 weeks along, very tired, and a little nauseous (but not as bad as when I had the stomach bug). We were able to see the heartbeat right away which is always a relief! We’ll go back for a real ultrasound in 4 more weeks. Unless something else happens (God changes our/His mind) this will be our last pregnancy. We would like to adopt from China when Mark turns 30 (part of Chinese rules). And then we would like to adopt some more from wherever God leads from here on out. Yes, I did say we wanted more children!!! This is our ministry and where God has placed our hearts calling.

Zoe is praying for a little sister. We’ll see!!!

Liam got his first haircut on Thursday! He ws getting pretty shaggy, as you can see by the picture below! It was very long in the back. If anyone has tried to cut a 10 month old baby’s hair I’d love to hear your story. Liam did good..just a little fussy at having to hold his head. And I was very nervous about accidentally stabbing him if he turned the wrong way or jerked away too fast. So, it’s not the neatest cut but it’s a lot more tailored than it was. Quite an experience!!!

Okay, so the pictures didn’t get posted on Friday…but they are here…finally! We got to go to Newnan’s last regular season game. They played East Coweta and won. They also won the Region Championship too! The first time in several years. We were able to leave early enough to get to the pep rally . The kids were pretty impressed. Here are the pictures from the game and after.

This is Todd with Jacie (Abbie’s neice). Todd is a former football player of dad’s and also coached with him when he was at Oxford. Dad didn’t know they were at the game until the end. It was a fun surprise for him!

Mom & Dad enjoy some celebration cuddles. This was a great end to their regular season game. And Dad’s last season as a football coach.

This is kind of dark but it’s Jay (Abbie’s Brother-in-law), Ethan (Abbie’s nephew), his sister, Jacie, Zoe, and Ace all walking hand in hand. It was too cute that we couldn’t resist a picture.

Thanks, also to Chrissy and Chad for coming to the game. It was great to see them and meet Maggie finally!

I’ve been a bad blogger and just haven’t updated the website…but I have a good excuse. I got a stomach bug over the weekend while at my parents’ home. Then it was my birthday on Tuesday! Big 29…It was a good day but still very very puny feeling. We managed to survive and start Ace on his potty training adventure (which of course has kept me busy the rest of the week).

I’m posting pics tomorrow, I promise!!!

Just a few things that have come up that I wanted to post real quick!

First off, I met with Liam’s service coordinator today and he will be done with Early Intervention at the end of November!!! We have been blessed to meet such wonderful people who have been so great to get Liam on track developmentally.

Second: Liam is now saying “more” using sign language! He says it for everything…food…waving goodbye, etc. He’s also crawling on all fours (not a belly crawler anymore) and today he let go of the coffee table and took two steps to me! He’s so cute!!!

Third: I forgot to mention this in our post on going to the WWII Memorial…It was close to 45 to 50 degrees when we went so the kids were bundled up in coats. The WWII Memorial has beautiful fountains and waterfalls. Ace’s first comment when he saw the beautiful memorial: “I gonna take my coat off and pway in the pool!” That was too cute and I just couldn’t resist posting it. Can’t believe I forgot ot post it when I wrote about our trip but here it is anyways!

No pics for this day. We headed out of DC about 11:00 a.m. and got back to Georgia around 10 or so. It was a long trip home but we were able to take our time and the kids were very good for being in the car for so long. We are very glad to be home. I’ll post a kid update soon…

Day 6 was a trip to the outlets in the morning. Liam lost his paci and was grumpy the whole time, but I got a lot of good deals on clothes for next season and beyond.

We met Mark at a metro stop in the evening and trekked in the freezing cold to the WWII Memorial. On the way, we saw the White House and the National Monument! Zoe and Ace were really impressed with the size of the National Monument. Mark took this great picture of the White House and showed just a great little glimpse of all the beautiful trees changing color.
This picture of the National Monument was at sunset while we were at the Memorial. From one side of the Memorial, you could see the Monument and when you turned the other way, you could see the reflecting pool and the Lincoln Memorial. Both were very beautiful. You can probalby see the Memoria sunset picture better if you click on it.

This is part of the WWII Memorial looking from the Pacific side to the Atlantic. It was absolutely beautiful and a great way to honor our soldiers and families who participated in the war. For those that don’t know, my (Abbie’s) grandfather, served in the Navy during WWII and was still overseas when my dad was born in July of ’45. This was a neat way to remember my grandfather and all the many sacrifices he and countless others made. I wanted to go see the WWI memorial, which I’ve read has not been taken care of nor is it as large as this memorial, but we didn’t have time and it was VERY cold!

So, back to the metro we went to thaw out and meet Mark’s coworkers for Barbecue. It was Memphis style from Red, Hot, & Blue. Not quite like good old Georgia Southern Barbecue but pretty good. Here are all the guys (plus Jackie and Julie) that traveled to work in DC for the week.

I decided this was going to be an easy day after two very long days. So, we loaded up in the car to take a 5 minute drive (literally) to Potomac Park to play on the Awakening Statue and at the playground. However, I had to get gas first. When I finally found a place to get gas, I couldn’t turn back around to get on the interstate until I got all the way into Maryland (I think it was Maryland). After getting back on the interstate, it took me another 45 minutes to get to the park because I missed the exit, and couldn’t get back on the interstate. But, we finally got there and Ace and Liam both had a good nap and were ready to climb. This is Zoe and Ace looking at Potomac River!

The Awakening. I saw this when I first came to DC but it looked a lot bigger then (I was also just 12). It has a leg and foot coming out of the ground too, like he’s waking up. Zoe and Ace liked putting mulch in his mouth! They are the two little bumps on his face.

Liam hanging out on the statues hand!

Zoe, Ace, & Liam on the Awakening’s hand!